This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 167,516 of D. B. Albright et al. and entitled Process for Interconnecting an Actuator and a Postage Meter and to U.S. Application Ser. No. 167,518 of C. M. Weimer and entitled Apparatus for Interconnecting an Actuator and a Postage Meter both of which applications were filed concurrently herewith and are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Apparatus for operating postage meters, such as the postage meter actuators of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,473, issued Oct. 24, 1978 to K. E. Schubert and P. Pollak, Jr., and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, are adapted to be removably mounted in operating relationship with respect to postage meters; for example, on a postage meter such as a Model 2200 or Model 5300 postage meter commercially available from the assignee of the present invention or on a suitable support associated with such a postage meter. Such postage meters generally include postage value printing means and a plurlity of postage value selecting levers. The postage meter levers are operationally coupled by well-known means to the printing means and are individually manually positionable in a plurality of positions for selecting the desired postage value to be printed. The actuators generally include means for automatically positioning the postage meter levers in response to electrical signals generated for example by means of a data processor associated with an electronic scale in a mailing system of the type discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,525, issued Jan. 20, 1981 to V. G. Coppola, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. In such mailing systems the scale includes a pan for weighing mailpieces, and the data processor generates signals which are a function of mailpiece weight, destination and transportation class. Before the actuator is mounted in the operating relationship with respect to the postage meter, the postage meter levers must be located in a reference position and aligned with the lever positioning means of the actuator, for synchronizing the actuator and postage meter with respect to each other; so as to synchronize the postage meter with the remainder of the mailing system, including the zero weight level of the scale pan, to ensure printing postage values which are a function of the weight of the mailpieces placed on the scale pan. Accordingly:
An object of the present invention is to provide a process and apparatus for interconnecting a postage meter and a postage meter operating apparatus, such as an actuator, for operation in synchronism with each other;
Another object is to provide a process and apparatus for interconnecting a postage meter having postage value selecting levers, and an actuator having means for positioning the postage meter levers; and
Another object is to provide a process and apparatus for accurately mounting an actuator, having means for positioning postage meter levers, in operating relationship with respect to a postage meter having levers which are positionable in a plurality of postage value selecting positions.